Adventure For a Lifetime
by Jaystick
Summary: With a strange cult of magic users targeting the vampires of Ooo, Finn visits Marceline to get answers, only winding up to get more than he was bargaining for. Marceline will have to make a decision that may intertwine her and Finn's fate for good. (Title Changed)
1. Prologue

**Author's comments at the bottom. If you don't like how the story moves, tell me why and how you think I could do better. :D**

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Finn stood at the top of his tree-house, quietly looking out of the circular window that was carved through trunk. His face was cold against the wind and yet it he stood unwavering as it hit him, and through this mild chill he softly gazed upon the setting of the golden orange sun. The dimming yet beautiful rays revealed the mellow plains and the distant treeline that flanked them like opposing armies. In the midst of these wooden armies, the strip of grassland where the treehouse stood, was remarkably free of any harsh elements, giving them plenty of time to spot an approaching villain. This sparked a thought within Finn about how the tree-house was separated from the rest of its kind, and how he was similar to this tree. His home was the only tree that was actually in the grassland. Sure, there were a few errant shrubs and bushes, but this was the only tree.

"And I'm the only human in Ooo," thought Finn, who had now shifted his gaze to his feet.

The light outside was subsiding swiftly enough, and the darkness encroached upon their home with indifference as it enveloped the whole of Ooo. And when the late had faded, the coolness of the air washed over him with renewed vigor. These summer's evenings were one of the things Finn had come to like best about life. With a quiet yet longing inhale of breath, Finn looked up from his stupor and reached for the window clasp. But, before he could close it, he heard a yelp in the distance. It was faint, but he did hear something. Unknowing if it was an animal or a person, he listened again, closely this time. He waited for what seemed like a full minute, and nothing came to his ears besides the passing breeze and the now chirping of the bugs. With a questioning expression, Finn decided it was best to ignore it, and shut the window. Surely it was just an animal.

The next morning, Finn awoke to a grey sky's light through the window, and what took him a moment to realize was the sweet smell of breakfast. "Pancakes," he thought aloud. This alone was enough to have the fifteen year-old scramble out of his bed. While almost tripping over himself in the onesie pajamas he still wears, he managed to make it downstairs without breaking anything, himself included. Jake stared at him with a look that revealed he was used to Finn's energy. "Hah! I knew this would get your butt out of bed!," he said with a cheek to cheek grin.

"Man, of course your pancakes would wake me up. They're like one of my favorite food groups."

"Uuh.. I'm pretty sure pancakes aren't a food group, Finn. They might be -in- a food group, though."

"Whatever, as long as I get to shovel them down my facehole," Finn's eyes were fixated on the stove Jake stood next to, a mountain of large and browned pancakes sat next to him on a plate. "Go ahead and dig in bro, I'm almost done here. Just gotta throw this skillet in the sink."

Not needing to be told twice, Finn got a plate and fork from the kitchen and stacked a couple pancakes on it. The steam and the smell wafted to his nose like the sweet nothings of a lover to his ear. Finn rushed to sit down and enjoy his meal. As he did so, the sound of rain began to permeate the wood of the tree-house, and lightning voiced itself as thunder as it began to dance throughout the sky. Not too long after the rain had started, Finn had finished. His plate was empty but his stomach was groaned in fullness. He got up to place his plate in the sink, when he heard a scream that seemed to curdle his blood.

Startled, he dropped his plate with a crash as pieces of glass dispersed, but he was to the door before that. Bursting it open, he was immediately pummeled by the large berth of the raindrops. It didn't phase him, he'd already resigned himself to locating the source of the scream. He scanned the horizon as well as he could through the onslaught of the storm. He noticed that, oddly, there wasn't much wind to go along with this rain. Usually thunderstorms and ferocious winds are inseparable. With no one in sight, he moved around the perimeter of his home, staying close to it so as to not attract the wrath of a stray bolt of lightning. Just when he was about to give up, thinking whoever made the scream had already moved on or had been claimed by an attacker, he saw Jake's yellow fur in the distance-and he was three-times his normal size.

Moving with as much speed his legs would lend him, Finn rushed to the scene where he saw there were two more people: someone dressed in a hooded black coat, and the other was, for some reason, laying face down in the dirt. The person on the ground had very pale skin and light blonde hair, almost white. "Jake! What's going on?" Finn yelled in a confused tone.

"This meat head was trying to hurt this guy. He had some stone in his hand and was muttering some crazy words." Jake replied, not taking his eyes off the stranger.

Finn's face contorted in a quizzical way, "What'd you do to him?"

The man stood, arms down to his sides and his face still concealed by the black cloak. By now the storm was really starting to rage on, the absent wind finally had arisen from its slumber. For a few seconds, nothing happened but an exchange of stares between the group, but then Finn, having decided he'd waited long enough, sprang into action. He was still dressed in his onesie, and he didn't have his sword, but he thought he could at least wrestle him to the ground and force him to talk. About halfway to the hooded figure, Finn saw him lift his arms. Right as he did that, the wind died off again. It was too late for Finn to slow down now, he was already in mid-leap.

In nothing more than an instant, the man had summoned forth a small cyclone that intercepted Finn. To Finn, hitting the end of a cyclone with his head felt close to slamming into a brick wall that was also trying to suck off his face. Finn, who was now seeing stars, was flung a good distance backward. He had cleared Jake and then finally came to a muddy stop after making a large splash. If the mud hadn't cushioned him, it would've hurt a lot worse. Finn's head was spinning, but from what he could tell from the ground was that Jake had moved in to attack the guy right as he'd been slammed by a globbin face tornado of all things. It seemed to Finn that this hooded figure's power of air wasn't a match for Jake's stretchiness. Jake stretched over him and engulfed the man with his hide until the bursts of wind had finally come to a halt. Finn, still laying on the ground and reeling from the stars in his eyes, turned his head to get a good look at his mud buddy. He didn't recognize anything about him save for one thing: he had the bite of a vampire on his neck.

The villain Jake had subdued lay in the mud face down with his cloak still covering his head. The rain finally began to subside when Jake glanced over at Finn, who was only just now beginning to stir, and then looked backed at this stranger. Slowly, with outstretched arms, he lowered the cloak's hood, revealing a species with tan and scaly skin. Jake had never seen a kind like this one before. "Well thats just wonderful. Now, how was he doing all that weird wind magic." A quick search through the lizard-kin's cloak revealed no magical object besides the dimly glowing, red stone-so Jake surmised it was either a spell, or it was this strange object that had produced such power. Finn approached the lizard, not taking his eyes off it for a second. Not fully understanding what was happening, Finn voiced, "This is just too weird Jake."

hr/hr

"Marceline! Hey, Marceline!" shouted Finn. He stood outside the front door of her house, the house itself being inside a dank, dark, cave. He waited a few seconds before walking up to her door. He wanted her to come out, but he'll go in and get her if he needs too. A comatose vampire shows up not even one-hundred feet from his treehouse? That needs some explaining.

Finn knocks on the door as a final means of saying, "Hey, we need to talk." Having still not come out, Finn tries the door, which is strangely unlocked. He supposes that wouldn't be very strange. She's a vampire, and this is a cave. Who would try to steal from her in this place let alone knew she lived here? Trudging forward, Finn steps into the living room of her house. The lights were off except for what seemed to be glowing mushrooms in pots around her home. Right about now he'd wish Jake were here, but he opted to stay home and guard the guy instead of bringing him along. He has enough problems with vampires as it is, and worrying about two at once is a bit much for Jake.

"Hey Marceline, you home?" Finn shouted throughout the house. Still nothing had called back. "Maybe she's really not here," he surmised. Deciding it would be best to make sure, he went up the ladder and to her bedroom. Knocking on the door to the bedroom, it creaked open. Finn, being the nosy kid he is, slips his head through the now wide crack in the doorway.

Dark.

No light at all. Finn stepped into the room and found the light switch. The only thing in the room that looked out of place to Finn was the messy bed. "Yep, not home."

Finn, having come to a conclusion, flipped the switch and turned around. Only, when he went to walk through the door, he smacked into something. Someone, actually. They were large and built like a wall. Now that the lights were out, he couldn't see who it was.

"I thought you said no one would be here!" yelled the giant.

"No one but the vampire." A calm voice broke free of the blackness. The silhouette of the person stepped past the hulk, "And this boy must be it."

Finn was initially standing, and before he could piece together the situation, a familiar blast of wind shot from the creature's arm and slammed him into the back wall.

"Well that hurt.." Finn groaned as his knees slid to the floor. The man stepped forward and removed something from his sleeve that gave off a faint aura of red light. The room was so dark, it seemed as if the whole world had disappeared except for this object. He stared at it, dazed and mesmerized, and then he realized what he was looking at. It was a stone just like the other lizard-kin had held earlier.

"Oh this is really not go-", was all he could say. Finn was suddenly blasted by a bright red beam that emanated from the stone. He could hear the man chanting something, and each and every word he spoke seemed to make Finn lethargic. He could feel something being pulled from him, but he didn't know what. All Finn knew, was that he was starting to feel very, very sleepy. Before he even knew it, Finn had passed out.

"What the glob are you doing to him?!" Marceline roared from behind the giant.

"Huh?" the giant groaned.

"So there is another one after all…" his loud voice bellowed.

"Well don't just stand there, grab her!" Yelled the lizard-kin. "Okay.." the giant spoke in a low, almost bored, voice. He turned and made a large sweeping motion with his arms, bringing them towards his chest, but all he managed to capture was air. Marceline had already swiftly moved passed the giant and knocked the lizard-kin off his feet by slamming into him. Before the lizard could get off the ground, Marceline put Finn's arm around her neck and picked him up. Now carrying Finn, she flew by the lizard and the giant who was now rushing towards her, but leaving the doorway unguarded. Marceline could hear the faint shout of "You idiot!" as she made her way down the ladder, back to her living room. "What'd they do to you, Finn?" Marceline cooed.

"I have to find Jake!"

If there was ever a time when Marceline was glad it was a cloudy day, that time would be now. Moving at full speed, she flew as fast as she could toward the direction of Finn and Jake's tree-house. Now, being a vampire, Marceline can sense the life energy of all things through their blood, and while Finn wasn't bleeding visually, for some reason his body was exuding his strength as if all his life energy had been forced to flow outward. She could feel this, and the fact that she could feel this without tasting or smelling his blood made her worry all that much more. "Only a few more minutes, hold on Finn." Marceline muttered, soaring the air. She hadn't even realized there were tears on her face yet.

"Marceline, there you- OH MY GLOB" shouted Jake. "What'd you do to Finn?!"

"I didn't do anything! Some guys broke into my house while I was away and they were doing something to him when I got there." Marceline was gasping for breath, all that fast flying did a number on her. "I don't know what they did but I can feel him dying."

"What do you mean you can feel him dying? What kind of globbin thing to say is that!" Jake was exhaling all his air before he could finish his words. He grew to twice his normal size and stretched out his arms to grasp Finn and lay him down on the couch.

"I don't know! They had some kind of crystal or stone or something and they were using it on Finn!" Came the exasperated Marceline.

"Wait. A stone? When Finn came to get you, he was going to ask you about another vampire. He was a victim of one of these dudes and he also had a stone" Jake said, while rushing to his bedroom. He had stretched there and back in only a few seconds, his paws now holding a reddish crystal-like object. "Like this?" Jake said, staring intensely at Marceline.

"Yeah like that." Marceline flew over and picked the stone up. As she did so, she immediately felt something overpowering surge into her, like there were thousands of years of life trapped inside that red object. It called to her as a vampire, seducing her lust for energy. Before she could become entranced by it, something happened. She felt something that was lingering, slip away. She felt Finn die.

"Oh my glob, Finn!" Marceline's eyes grew wide.

"What?! What about Finn?!" Jake was on the verge of tears. Jake rushed to the side of best friend. He put his ear to Finn's chest and listened. "I.. I don't.. hear a heartbeat.." Jake was stammering through sobs, now. Marceline took one look at Finn, and then one look at the stone. "I have an idea.." Marceline bit into the crystal, which surprisingly gave way to her teeth easily.

"This is no time to be enjoying a snack! Finn is.. Finn's…" Jake, eyes were wide and filled with tears. He couldn't bear to look at this dead brother any longer now, and so he averted his gaze. However, behind him, Marceline was experiencing something quite unusual. She was feeling the influx of enough energy that she wouldn't have to feed again for another thousand years. But that's not what she's going to do. After having drained the stone, she dropped it, it turning a sickly grey. Her cheeks had turned a rosy red and her eyes shone as a brilliant scarlet as if the immense energy was attempting to escape her. She turned to Finn and moved to him ceremoniously, deliberately slow.

"Oh what are you going to do.. Bite him now too?!" Jake was hysterical. "Or are you going to- Oh.." Jake, was witnessing something he didn't think he'd ever see. Marceline had brought herself to Finn, and pushed her lips into his. Her cheeks and eyes were returning to their paled color, while Finn's grew redder and redder.

To Jake, it looked like she was giving him CPR, but a kiss from a vampire and not a bite, Marceline knew, was reserved only for those who she was supposed to loved dearly. It only works on those she loves dearly, even if she didn't know it. And it was reserved for those who she viewed as a person to bond or to mate with. It was a way for vampires to share the energy they'd collected with one another, to keep their mated partner alive as long as possible-living in eternity. Except in this case, she was sharing it with a human. She knew that she was pouring an unnatural amount of life back into Finn's body, but she couldn't stop once she had begun. His heart, which had begun to beat again, caused a surge of relief to manifest as tears in her eyes. In order to save Finn, a vampire had given him the kiss of life. Unbeknownst to Finn, this kiss would be a seal upon his fate.

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**Here's the short of it: I'm back for awhile, I polished up this intro chapter, I'm putting the other story on hiatus since I feel I butchered my original idea, and, I'll be finishing up this story instead. I have no idea how many chapters it could take.**

**If you see anything grammatically abhorrent, message me and I'll take a look at it. I will gladly look at everyone's thoughts and ideas (if i have time, again). I really like the Adventure Time series and I'm a little saddened there aren't more fanfictions of a certain caliber out there. I really enjoyed the one involving buying Finn as a slave, involving a romance between Finn and Marceline eventually. Maybe I'll branch off and try my hand at something like that. Dunno. And I'm not saying the one I'm making is high-caliber, but yeah. **

**Ideas and thoughts would be greatly appreciated. It would help to keep me motivated. Practice-practice-practice-practice-practice, means, write-write-write-write.**


	2. Awakenings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Adventure Time or its related assets. (derp)**

**Please excuse any grammar errors or misspellings. I did do a proof reading, but I figure some fragments or errors will still have slipped by.**

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Finn awoke to the noise of a candy-cane man being forcibly strapped to the neighboring bed. Dr. Princess observed as he tried resisting a peppermint essence transfusion, minty fresh, she would add. A banana guard had to rush over and push all his weight on top of him to restrain him.

"Noo! You won't get me with your new-fangled medicines! You're just try'n to give me poison! Ain'tcha!" The nurses attached a line to his candy cane hook, and a stream of blue-white liquid began to steadily move through the tube.

"Please calm down, we're not trying to hurt you!" Dr. Princess reassured.

"Poppycock!" Was his last remark.

A now sighing Dr. Princess motioned towards the nurses to continue doing their job. To Finn, it was weird to think that candy people would ever need medical attention like this. But, the more pressing matter at hand was his burning question.

"Why am I in a hospital?!" The disgruntled Finn let loose. He made Dr. Princess fall over backwards out of her chair, his outburst had come so suddenly. With a thud and the sound of a paper stack exploding, she almost regretfully managed, "Uhm.. you were hurt, obviously." She was still picking herself off the ground when Finn chimed again. "How was I hurt? I don't remember being hurt; I was just attacked by a couple of no good thugs."

"Yes well…" Dr. Princess muttered, brushing herself off, and then motioned for the guard to come near. She whispered something to the guard, who was at first listening with a goofy smile, but something she said had panicked him and in a flash he was out the door before Finn's eyes could fully focus. Dr. Princess walked over to Finn.

"So, how are you feeling?"

"I feel fine, really," Was Finn's response.

"Uh huh…" Dr. Princess didn't look so sure of that. She took a pen out of her coat pocket and began to prod his foot with it.

"What?" Finn was becoming extra annoyed.

"It's just.. that.." Dr. Princess wasn't sure whether to tell him or not. Was it her place to tell him, or was that a job for someone closer to him?

"Just what!" Finn was getting impatient. "Can I leave? Can I get out of here, lady?"

"You can lay back down, Finn." Princess Bubblegum walked through the door, her usually calm and serene face was twisted slightly in worry, and she was focused only on him.

"What? Peebs.. why?" For Finn, this was getting far too strange, far too quickly.

"Well, you sort of.. left us." Bubblegum sat down on his bed, looking straight into Finn's eyes. Her pink dress, which she usually took the time to smooth out before sitting down, ruffled.

"Left you? I didn't go anywhere." Finn responded, quizzical.

"That's not what I mean, Finn. You were ...dead for a couple minutes, according to Jake and Marceline." Bubblegum said this in a matter-of-fact fashion. She didn't think trying to do the usual routine of sugar-coating the news would do him anymore good. She did, however, linger on Marceline's name at the end.

"I was.. dead? That's not right.. I'm alive right now!" Finn's features shifted into a look of pure disbelief.

"How could I have died?" He brought his hands to touch his body, looking for a stab or wound that would explain why they thought he had perished, but after a few seconds of searching, he found no marks.

"How did I die?" Came Finn.

"I'm.. not exactly sure. They said you were hit by some kind of beam. It came from a stone of some sort. I've spent the last few weeks researching it." Bubblegum was about to go into a scientific rant about the stone, when- "WEEKS? How long have I been out?!" Finn's face was turning red, and pure panic was washing over him.

"Calm down Finn! You've been out for awhile but you've not missed anything big anyway!" Bubblegum was doing her best to reassure her favorite patient, the one she'd chosen to be the protector of the Candy Kingdom. Finn laid his head down on the soft marshmallow pillow of his bed, eyes wide open, only staring at the ceiling. It was apparently sometime in the morning, as the room that was lit by a ceiling lamp was now being illuminated by a crack of sunlight. It brought with it a charm of focus and calming. Bubblegum looked at him for a few moments, then traced his gaze as if trying to study him, but after awhile, she stood back up. "Well Finn, I'll let Jake know you're awake. I'm sure he'll want to talk to you."

"You said Marceline helped me, too?"

"Mm.. Yes.. however, she hasn't visited since she brought you here." Bubblegum's look was a sympathetic one.

"Oh." Finn didn't look like he enjoyed hearing that news too much. This was, after all, the person that saved his life.

"I'll let her know too, if you want."

"No.. it's okay Princess, I'll go talk to her myself when I get out of here." Finn looked her in the eyes, and Bubblegum knew he was regaining his composure.

"Alright Finn. They'll discharge you when you pass the physical tests. It shouldn't be too hard for a hero like you." Bubblegum giggled as she walked to the door and shut it behind her. Dr. Princess had at some point snuck out, as it seemed the only people in the room now were Finn and the snoring old candy-cane man. The sun began to shine more intensely with the progression of time. The beautiful blend of bright golden light started a thought process within Finn.

"Did this happen.. because I couldn't protect myself? Did I have to rely on my friends to save me again? ...And I almost died because of it. Well, I did die…" Finn lifted his arm and opened his palm. He stared at the creases in it and how it seemed to be shaking slightly from the lack of use.

"For being a hero, I'm not very strong, am I?" Finn spoke aloud, albeit very weakly.

"Depends on what you mean by strong, kid."

The response came from the candy-cane man. It startled Finn to hear the guy speak at him, but Finn twisted his head to look in his direction.

"What do you mean, old-timer?" Finn wasn't one for being a politefully tact speaker.

"I mean.. well maybe you should figure that out for yourself then. I could be shoutin' crazy nonsense at you with these drugs in me." The candy-cane man started to chuckle, showcasing his mouth that was half-full of crooked teeth. And, in one split instant, he shut his eyes and was snoring immediately.

"Right…" Finn's retort was drawn out. Finn thought about the different kinds of strength the man could have meant. He thought about physical strength, courage, faith, and even strength of knowledge. Any one of those could be useful to a hero.

So if it's strength he needs, it would be strength he would gain.

It was in that moment a choice was made. He felt like he was finally going to mold his future with his own hands, and to top it off, he'd decided he'd had enough to do with girls for awhile. Flame Princess had left him burned, literally. Princess Bubblegum had left him confused and emotionally wrecked, and all the other princesses just doll over him and think of him more as a prize than a person. He's the last known human and that made him very valuable to the individual kingdoms that were left. What Princess Bubblegum had told him was that, in some way or another: humans were once the most populous creatures on the planet, having built a massive super-society. It was because of the promise of building another society that they wanted Finn. "If it was so great, why did we all die?"

Having had enough of those thoughts, Finn felt like trying to walk. However, before Finn could think of getting up on his own, Jake burst through the door.

"Finn!" Jake looked like there were tears in his eyes.

"Hey, Jake." Finn said with a happy smile. Even though it only felt like a few hours ago, he knew he hadn't seen Jake in weeks. With all that's supposedly happened, Finn would lay there and talk with his best friend - until it was finally time for the tests.

Standing at the check-out desk with Jake, Finn looked down at his feet, thinking about what the old candy-cane man had said. What kind of strength should I need, then? He shook his head. It didn't matter. If he didn't know which strength it was, he would simply grow stronger in everything. He'd already decided what he was going to do.

"Jake, when we get home, I'm going out on my own for awhile. I need to do some soul-searching, find teachers, maybe." Finn was still looking at his feet.

"Okay bud, but I'm coming with you." Jake was always there at Finn's side, like his guardian. Finn knew he couldn't grow on his own if he relied on his brother all the time.

"No Jake, I did say on my own. I need to do this by myself." Jake froze, staring at Finn. He quickly snapped his head back toward the receptionist nurse.

"Uh, nevermind that paperwork. He's still sick, very sick."

"Jake! I'm okay!"

"Do you know how close I came to losing you? And now you want to just, run off into the wilderness by yourself? That's crazy talk and you're not crazy."

Finn looked up from his feet, casting his gaze toward Jake. Jake saw something in Finn he'd never seen before. It wasn't fierce determination - he'd seen that in Finn all the time. This was something more primal. It was like a cornered animal that decided to go down fighting. It wasn't fierce determination, it was fierce desperation. Jake knew better than to fight a cornered animal. With a long, drawn out sigh, "Okay Finn. On your own."

"Thanks Jake." Finn said, his face transforming into a smile. It was time he learned to protect his friends, instead of the other way around.

Marceline laid on her bed, lost in a world of thought and sleepiness. She hadn't left her house much since that day. She had gathered a lot of materials and stockpiled food so she could stay locked away for in her home. The day Finn was attacked, she had come back to her house expecting to find the brutes who did that to Finn, but it seemed like they were long gone. She hadn't added any new security measures to her house; she was daring them to come back, so she could fight them and make them talk. But, unfortunately, it seemed that they got whatever they were after. Her mind kept going back to that moment when Finn had died. As a vampire, before she discovered she could suck the red out of objects for energy, she'd taken the lives of many creatures. It wasn't as if death was a new thing to her, obviously. She'd lived through the great Mushroom War of all things. But that was, different. It was like she felt the very essence of his life slip through her fingers. It was a cold and lonely feeling. But why, she wondered, had she felt that with Finn when that had never happened to her before with anyone else? It didn't make sense to her.

"What the hell, Finn. You're just a human boy, so what's happening to me?" Marceline muttered, having decided to dig herself into a burrow under the covers of her bed. "Maybe going to sleep for a long while will solve this," she thought. But, of course, she wouldn't fall asleep. Not when the phone started ringing. It was a phone her father had setup as a line to him in the nightosphere, but, of course, Bubblegum had created telephone lines herself. She sat up slowly, wondering if it could be that he had awoken at last. Floating over to the phone, her hand hovered over the receiver, and then finally, she placed it next to her ear.

"Hello, Marcy."


End file.
